I can see immediately that one of the segments looks wrong: What can I conclude? Previewing the segments lets me see them alongside previously painted segments I also lower the segment threshold to 6cM in order to include the two smaller segments so that I can see them in context. There are two buttons: ‘Preview’ and ‘Save Match Now.’ In order to evaluate the match without painting it, I click ‘Preview’. The ‘Paint a new match’ form after I’ve pasted the segment data into it. I can copy the segment data from the CSV file and paste it into this form. The ‘Paint a new match’ button at the top-right of my chromosome map I can now return to my chromosome map at DNA Painter and click Paint a new match. I know from experience that smaller 6-7cM segments can be false, but I’m going to persevere.
Getting the segments from MyHeritageĪs I suspected, the segments are all quite small. This gives me a comma-separated-values (CSV) file, which I can open in a text editor or a spreadsheet program. To get the segment data for the DNA that Paul and I share, I scroll to the bottom of the MyHeritage match detail page and click ‘Advanced Features’ and then ‘Download shared DNA info’. My chromosome map provides a helpful reference when I’m investigating a new DNA match This means I have all of my DNA assigned at least to grandparent level, with additional detail in certain locations. I’m lucky enough to have both parents tested, and to have completed a visual phasing project for myself and my siblings. Investigating with chromosome mappingĪlthough I haven’t done much recently, I’ve developed quite a detailed chromosome map over the years, which is very helpful when new matches come in. I can examine these segments and see if they make sense alongside what I already know about my paternal chromosomes. However, I’m a born sceptic, so I’m not going to just take these 22.8cMs of DNA at face value and assume they all come from this known genealogical connection. It’s at moments like this that I shiver in amazement at the way genetic genealogy helps reveal things I couldn’t possibly otherwise have known. It seems as if at least some of this 22.8cMs of DNA has come from my ancestors John Couzens and Sarah Cutler, born nearly 250 years ago in Hampshire, England. So even though this is only 22.8cMs, I feel as if I’ve hit the jackpot. In fact, it would have been far more likely that I shared no DNA at all with a 5th cousin. Although I don’t have many shared matches on this side of my tree to help corroborate, 22.8cMs is a reasonable amount to share with a 5th cousin.The genealogical info in the tree looks feasible Paul’s ancestor Emily is already in my tree.This time I was in luck: the diagram excerpt below suggests that Paul Feathers (not his real name) is my 5th cousin Diagram outlining the proposed connection between me and fifth cousin Paul However, a good genealogist leaves no stone unturned, so I always take a look anyway. Several suggested connections based on a common name and a small DNA match, with no strong geographical connection.Some suggested connections I was already aware of (in most cases, the connections have been inferred from my own tree!).In general, I find the tests I administer have either: I was able to filter my match list by clicking on ‘All tree details’ and selecting the filter option ‘Has Theory of Family Relativity’.Īs a European tester with lots of common names in my tree, this kind of automated process is less helpful for me than for others. I logged in a few days ago to see if any interesting new matches were included. This process analyzes the trees of your DNA matches and attempts to figure out what your relationship to them might be. MyHeritage recently ran its Theory of Family Relativity process again.
I also considered the conclusions I can draw by comparing the new match with other close relatives who have tested. This post outlines how I recently evaluated shared segments when investigating a new DNA match.